Pressure-gage.



F. VINCENT.

FRESSURE GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED Amm. I9I1.

Patented Apr. 16, 18m.

INVENTOR @am ATTORN EY WITNESS is a specification.

- friANz'vIncENi'-, oriminenroni, (mmm(magy4 -Spcoicati'on of Letters Patent.

Patented' Apr. ie, wie.

Appiiaafionma Augsta'isi'. serial No; 184,992.

To all 'whom z't ma concern Se-it knbwny tat I, FRANZ ViNoENT, 'a citizen of .the United States, residing at Bridgeport, countyv of Fairfield, State off4 Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Pressure-Gages, of which the following The objects of this invention are to pro-f vide a pressure gage adapted for general,

use and especially adapted for determining the air pressure in pneumatic tires, which shorter than thel Shall be relatively inexpensive to produce, efficient, accurate and practically noiseless 'in use, in which'the passage of air from a tire tothe gage is controlled insuch a manner as to prevent its entering the gage too quickly and in too large a quantity, thus preventing undue loss of air,`which willv operate equally well if the stem' of the tire valve happens to ybe slightly longer -or normal length, and in which the indicator shall be wholly retained v withinthe ,case at all times and shall be automatically retained in indicating position after the gage is removed from the tire. Y

With these and other objects in view, I have devised the novelr pressure gage, which I will now describe referring to the accompanyiinr drawing forming a part of this I specification and using reference charactersV to indicate the several parts. Figure l1 is an elevation illustrating the ,usecf m novel ressure a e Fig. 2 a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale., the parts being in the normal position;

5 Fig. 3 a similarview showing the gage applied to the tube of a tire valve, the cap being removed andthe. tube partly broken away to show the 'valve stem and the cooperation therewith of `my novel resilient plug block and unseating stud;

Fig. 4 a perspective view of the indicator brake detached; l

' Fig. 5a perspective view of the indicator detached;

Fig.v 6 a transverse section on they line `6--6 in Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig.v 7 is a perspectivewiewl of the plug block and unseating stud, detached.

10 denotes,A the vcasing which is tubular, is provided at its upper end with a head cap 11, at its lower end with a base cap 12 and intermediate the caps with a `window 13.

sliding withinthe Casing is a tubular indi-.

--cator 14 closed atA its upper'end, open at'l its lowerlend and provided with a scale v.15,

graduatedtolcoperate with the windpw inv indicating airpressure, and with a longitudinal groove -1'6 which receives the brake' strip as will be more fully described.

Within the indicator is a guide tube" 17 which is open at its' upper end and is provided at its lower end with a head 18 which lits-closely Within the base cap and. is shouldered externally to receive fthe end of the casing y and internally` to receive 'agwasher' l21. v Within'the guide tube. is a pneumatic plunger 19 which is provided exteriorly with `a packing ring20 to make an nfair tight sliding connection between the guide tube and the plunger. rllhev lower end of the plunger is strengthened by meansl of a thimble 22 which also "serves as a support for the lower end of -a 'spring 23, the normal action of which is to retain the y'plunger in its normal position as in Fig. 2. One end of the spring is attachedl to the closed end of the plunger andthe other end'to washer.

v21, the washer bein provided with a central hole through w ich the spring passes, and the spring being shown as secured to the washer by means of a pin 24. 1

The base capv is provided .with a hole 25 large enough to receive the tube of a tire valve. i Seated between ,the end of. the base cap and head 18 ofthe guide 'tube is a resilient member comprising a plug block and unseating stud formed integral of resilient material, as rubber, the special construction of which is an important feature of the presentinvention. This resilient member comprises essentially a central unseating4 stud 26 surrounded by'a groove 27, one or more air ducts leadin from the base of the groove through the b ock, a circular rib 29 v`surrounding the groove and higher than the unseating stud and another 'relatively narrow and deep groove 30 surrounding the rib, the purpose of which is to insure ample flexi-l bility to the rib, compare Figs. 2`and 3.

The operation of the portion of the invention already described, is as follows. The gage is applied to the tube of a tire valve, indicated by 31, as shown in Figs.l 1l and 3. The edge of the tube engages the rib and compresses it inward and laterally as i dicated in Fig. 3. In practice the distano between groove 30 and the .ducts is amply sufficient to provide for both the largest and l the smallest valve l tubes in' general use. Whether the valve tube is relatively large or small the rib' will be compressed as indicated inl Fig. d3 and will eect a perfectly tight joint between thew tube and the gage before the valve stem, indicated by 32, will be engaged by the unseating stud. The rib is in practice made, amply resilient to edect a tight joint with the valve tube even if the valve stem isniorethan ordinarily long, and on the other hand if the valve stem is shorter than the normal, the rib will simplybe compressed a little more before the valve stem will be engaged by the unseating stud. 'll`he operator simply presses the gage down upon v the end of the valve tube until the valve is unseated bythe engagement of the studwith the stem and air is permitted to pass from the tube to the gage. rllhe ducts, two being .l shown in the presentinstance, are so proportioned that passage of ,air from the tube to the gage while perfectly free, is not made with a great rush the instant the valve is unseated. lln other words, while the full pressure of air in the tire' passes to the, gage it passes with only moderate velocity and owing to the fact/that the ducts are formed in resilient material, the operation of the gage is practically noiseless and furthermorel the indication of the pressure is more accurate owing to the fact that the indicator is moved a triiie more slowly. rllhe edect of `the passage of air into the gage is to raise the plunger against the tension of the Lj spring, the plunger in turny raising the indii cator, dwhich moves freely in the casing.

A rlhe scale upon the indicator, in coperation with the lower edge of the window i'n the casing, will now correctly indicate the pressure within the tire.

As a means of retaining the indicator in indicating position, .l provide a brake strip 33 which lies in groove 16 in the indicator and has its fulcrum on pins 3A extending from a plug in the upper end of the casing, the plug being cut away to receive the brake strlp as shown in Fig. Il. At the upper end of the brake strip is an angle arm 36 and lying between the angle arm and the outer face of the plug is a spring 37, the normal action of which is to raise the angle arm and force the brake strip against the indicator to retain it in any position in which it may be placed. 38 denotes a puslr button seatedin a central hole in the head cap and having a iiange 39"engaging the inner side of the cap and a stud 40 engaging the angle arm.

Spring 37 is strong enough to hold the. brakev strip against the indicator with sumcientpressure to retain it in place, but it is not strong enough to interferel appreciably with the raising of the indicator by the plunger and this slight pressure maybe re- 65 leased at vany time cby means of the push incarne I 7 l .in the position shown in Fig. 3, in which psition it is retained'by the brake strip. As soon as the pressure reading has been v made the operator by a slight pressure on the push button relieves the action of the brake strip on the indicator whichwill -instantly drop by gravity toits normal position as in Fig.-

Having thus described my invention, l claim 1. A pressure gage comprising a casing having a window, an indicaton having a scale adapted to coperate with .the window, a spring controlled pneumatic plunger adapted to raise the indicator, and a'resilient member in the base of the casing comprising a circular rib adapted to be engaged by a valve tube, a central valve unseating stud, and an air duct at the base of the stud through which air may enter the plunger.

2. A pressure gage comprising a casing having a, window, an indicatorhaving a scale adapted to cooperate with the window, .a spring controlled pneumatic plunger adapted to raise the indicator, and a resilient member inthe base of the casing, said resilient member being'forrneoll on its outerface with a' laterally resilient vcircular rib adapted to be engaged byl a valve tube and with a central valve unseating stud, said resilient member having an air duct therethrough having its exterior Vopening at the base of saidstud. f

3.' A pressure gage comprising a casinghaving a window, an indicator having a scale adapted to coperate with the window, a spring controlled pneumatic plunger adapted to raise the indicator, and a resili- .y ent member in'the base of the casing coml'lr prising al circular rib adapted to be engaged by a valve tube, a central valve unseatin stud, an air duct at the base of the stud through which air may enter the plunger, and means for retaining the indicator in 115 indicating position .independently of lthe plunger.

4. lin a pressure gage, a resi-lient member comprising a circular rib adapted to be engaged by a tire valve tube, a central unseat- 120 ing stud adapted to engage a tire valve ioa v stem, and an air duct at the base of the stud,

Y having a window, and

'at its ends,

and air controlling member formed on its outer face with a central unseating stud adapted to engage a tire valve stem and with a circular rib surrounding said stud and spaced therefrom, said rib being adapt ed .to be engaged by a tire valve tube, and said resilient member having an air duct therethrough having its exterior opening at the base of said stud and between the same and said rib.

7. In a pressure gage, a resilient coupling and air controlling member formed on its outer face with a central unseating stud adapted to engage a tire valve stem and with a laterally ieXible circular rib adapted to be engaged by a tire valve tube, said resilient member having an air duct therethrough having its exterior opening at the base of said stud. l

8. pressure gage, comprising a casing having a window, an-indicator having a scale adapted to be read atV the window, and a longitudinal groove, a spring controlled plunger adaptedto be raised by air pressure 'and to raise the indicator, and a spring controlled brake stripv in the groove, whereby the indicator is retained in the raised position after retraction of the plunger.

9. A pressure gage, comprising a casing having a window, an indicator having a scale adapted to be read at the window and a longitudinal groove, a spring controlled plunger adapted to be raised by air pressure and to raise theindicator, a'brake strip lying in the groove and having an angle arm, a spring acting on the angle arm` to retain the brake in engagement with the-indicator, and a push button adaptedY to relieve the action of the brake and permit the indicator `to drop by gravity` 10. A pressure gage, comprising a casing head and base caps a guide tube having a head, seated in the base cap, an indicator having a scale adapted to be read at. the window yand a closed upper end normally engaging the guide tube, and a spring controlled plunger within the guide tube, closed at its upper 12. A pressure gage, comprising a casing.

having a window, an mdicator having a scale adapted to be read at the window, a spring controlled plunger, and a resilient member in the base of the casing comprising a circular rib adapted to be engaged by a ivalve tube, a central valve unseating stud,

and an air duct at the base of the stud through which air may enter the plunger to raise the indicator.V

13. A pressure gage, comprising a casing having a window, an indicator having a scale adapted to be read at the window, a

' spring controlled plunger,.a resilient mem-V ber in the base of the casing comprising a circular rib adapted to be engaged by a valve tube, a central valve unseating stud, and an air ,duct at the base of the stud through which air may enter the plunger to raise the indicator, means for retaining the Iindicator raised, and means for releasing the mdicator permitting it to drop by gravity.

14. A pressure gage, comprising a casing having a window, an indicator having a scale adapted to be read at the window, a spring controlled plunger, a resilient 'member in the base ofthe casing comprising a circular rib adapted to be engaged by a valve tube, a central v alv'e unseating stud, an air duct at the base of the studthrough whichv air may enter the plungerto raise'the indicator, a spring controlled brake acting on the indicator to retain it raised,- and a push button for releasing the brake and permitting the indicator to dropby gravity. In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

FRANZ VINCENT. 

